Back when the lineup for the 2012 Hangout Music Fest was announced, there was a flurry of online back-and-forth about its merits. What stood out for me was not the yah-yah over particular artists, but the thread of possessiveness that ran through the discussion. Clearly, some people thought of Hangout as “their” festival. Others, as if jilted, seemed to think of it as the festival that should have been theirs.

The intensity of emotion over an event with just two years of history struck me as odd, and prompted me to raise the question, in print, of who the festival actually belonged to. This produced a few thought-provoking responses, none less so than one from the inevitable literal-minded commenter who observed that it belonged to Zislin, its founder, end of story.

More recently, I had the opportunity to bring up the question with Zislin himself. And he had a much better answer. Sure, he might be the owner in a legal sense, he said. But in an artistic sense, he just doesn’t think of himself that way.

“I’m more of a curator,” he said. “They own it.”

“They” meaning the people who buy all those general admission and VIP passes.

“They each buy a share in it,” he said. “Some buy preferred stock, some buy common stock.” Zislin said he thinks of himself as the broker hoping to make a commission on the sale.

About that commission: Zislin said that even among people in the industry who should know better, there’s a perception that a second sold-out year means he’s raking in the dough. That’s not the case, he said: He started with a five-year plan for profitability and that’s still the timetable. Thus far the priority has been to plow revenue back into elevating the quality of the event.

The Hangout Music Fest has undeniably brought national attention and a national audience to Gulf Shores. But it will never be go toe-to-toe with the nation’s biggest festivals in terms of budget or sheer size. To stand out, Zislin said, he believes it has to offer a distinct experience, based largely on its setting, the quality of its lineup and its amenities. That’s expensive but essential in these first few years, when organizers are trying to build the festival’s reputation.

Back to the original question. Who does the Hangout Fest belong to?

If you’re wearing a festival wristband this weekend, it kind of belongs to you. Think of it as one heck of a shareholder party.

Lawrence F. Specker is the Press-Register’s entertainment reporter. He can be reached by phone at 251-219-5606; by e-mail as lspecker@press-register.com; by fax at 251-219-5799. Twitter: PressRegisterBW, BWJustCoasting. Mail notices of upcoming events to him at the Press-Register, P.O. Box 2488, Mobile, AL 36652.